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Honduras ex-President Hernández: “Cocaine highway to the United States paved”

Photo: Jane Rosenberg / REUTERS

He is said to have had contacts in the drug community as early as 2004 and has now been convicted of extensive crimes: The former head of state of Honduras, Juan Orlando Hernández, has been found guilty of drug trafficking in the USA.

The jury in a New York court found it proven that the ex-president was responsible for smuggling hundreds of tons of cocaine into the USA.

The public prosecutor's office had accused him of turning Honduras into a "drug state" during his time in office.

Smuggling around 500 tons of cocaine

The 55-year-old now faces a life sentence.

Hernández was president of his country from 2014 to 2022.

He is said to have been involved in drug smuggling since 2004.

The prosecution accused him of facilitating the smuggling of around 500 tons of cocaine - mostly from Colombia and Venezuela - into the USA.

He is said to have pocketed millions in bribes, particularly from the notorious Mexican drug lord Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán, who is now serving a life sentence in a US high-security prison.

The jury returned its verdict in federal court after a two-week trial that was closely watched in his home country.

Before the jury left the courtroom, Judge P. Kevin Castel praised them for reaching a unanimous verdict.

It was a prerequisite for a conviction.

"We live in a country where 12 people cannot agree on a pizza topping," said the judge.

His message would have been the same regardless of their verdict.

“That’s why I’m in awe of you.”

Hernández was arrested at his home in Tegucigalpa, the Honduran capital, three months after leaving office in 2022.

In April of the same year he was extradited to the USA.

The U.S. Attorney's Office accused Hernández of working with drug traffickers as early as 2004.

He accepted millions of dollars in bribes as he rose from rural congressman to president of the National Congress and then to the highest office in the land.

Hernández “paved a cocaine highway to the United States”

Hernández admitted in court that drug money was paid to virtually all political parties in Honduras.

At the same time, however, he denied having accepted bribes himself.

During closing arguments Wednesday, Assistant U.S. Attorney Jacob Gutwillig told jurors that a corrupt Hernández "paved a cocaine highway into the United States."

Witnesses at the trial included human traffickers who admitted responsibility for dozens of murders and said Hernández was a keen protector of some of the world's most powerful cocaine dealers.

Among them was the Mexican drug lord Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán.

eru/AFP/AP